Nèdeem Elmahjoub's blog

China Bought the West Time with the Coronavirus. The West Squandered it.

Bringing Gender to the Forefront of the Trade Union Movement

Historical Drama This looks a good South Korean TV series The Nokdu Flower

There are similarities between the South Korean protest movement in the 1980s and the regime crackdown and the Arab uprisings since 2011, but one of the differences was that South Korea had already embarked on industrialisation and achieved it. Capitalist relations dominated and thus the struggle for bourgeois democracy was part of that transformation. The slogans and songs by the current protest movements in Sudan and Algeria come to mind when we read the following:  Protests inspired by South Korea's "March for the Beloved" See also March for the Beloved

"Stop the outsourcing of danger"

Here is an argument published by foreignpolicy.com exactly a year ago: One mistaken reason to avoid attacking North Korea is the fear of direct retaliation. The U.S. intelligence community has reportedly claimed that North Korea already has ballistic missiles with nuclear warheads that can reach as far as the United States. But this is almost certainly an exaggeration, or rather an anticipation of a future that could still be averted by prompt action. It’s true that North Korea could retaliate for any attack by using its conventional rocket artillery against the South Korean capital of Seoul and its surroundings, where almost 20 million inhabitants live within 35 miles of the armistice line. U.S. military officers have cited the fear of a “sea of fire” to justify inaction. But this vulnerability should not paralyze U.S. policy for one simple reason: It is very largely self-inflicted. [G]iven South Korea’s deliberate inaction over many years, any damage ultimately done to Seoul

South Korea "The Oracle Korea Workers Union was formed in October 2017 in response to unfair and non-transparent salary and compensation systems. The average working hours at Oracle Korea are about 80-100 hours per week, yet most workers have seen no wage increase over the last 10 years." Oracle workers on strike

Liberals are criticizing the Korean summit from the Right See also A Murderous History of Korea

Global capitalism Why is it that only two large developing capitalist economies* have succeeded in becoming part of the rich capitalist club in the last 50 years ?  Measured in GDP per capita and starting at $3000 per head (PPP real) 40 years ago, Taiwan and Korea now have per capita GDPs over $25,000. In the same period, no other Asian tiger or Latin American economy has risen above $13,000, still within the World B ank‘s middle income range.  Note that both Taiwan and South Korea were American-supported military regimes at the peak of their economic development. *United Arab Emirates or Singapore, for example, cannot be called "large capitalist economies" although they have a very high per capita GDP. 

Which country works the longest hours ?

But by far the most casualties were suffered by Koreans. US carpet bombing, largely unopposed, was the furnace that forged North Korea as a merciless and paranoid regime. “Over a period of three years or so, we killed off — what — 20 per cent of the population." Korean peace treaty would have to overcome decades of distrust

A murderous history of Korea

An interesting take, but I don't agree with the one-sided prospect. North Korea: a story of isolation